NET WORTH ZERO AND PROUD OF IT

May 10, 2015

A couple of months ago, I took a good hard look at my finances, and realized that my net worth — the value of all of my cash and assets minus my debts — was zero.

Zip, zilch, nada.

And I damn near threw myself a party.

Say what now? I was looking at a spreadsheet that made it eminently clear that if at this very moment all of my debts came due, and I cashed out every account, sold my cars and liquidated my retirement savings, in the end I would be left with absolutely nothing. How on earth is this a good thing? Was I suffering from some sort of net-worth-induced mental breakdown, cackling madly to myself over my laptop, shrieking “Out damn spot!” to that big fat zero on my screen?

I mean, I’m fairly dramatic so that is a definite possibility, but in this case, I was ready to celebrate because when I looked at the chart showing my net worth from month to month since I began tracking my finances, here’s what I saw:

When I began my financial journey in August of 2012, I had a net worth of negative $22,500. That hypothetical situation where all of my lenders call me and demand that I pay all my debts right then and there? Yeah… that wouldn't have been pretty. Twenty-nine months later, after hard work, a major learning curve and a lot of research, I was In. The. Black.

This blog, NetWorthy, is about sharing the lessons I've learned in the past 3 years as I went from a new-grad finance noob with debt coming out my ears to someone who could pay every debt she owes if called upon to do so. (Also there will be a lot of gifs. I like gifs.) And I hope you’ll join me as I learn and work to improve my finances and grow my net worth. With any luck, the things I learn will help if you are like me from three years ago, looking at your negative net worth and unable to imagine ever escaping from that mountain of debt. I've made it this far without moving in with mom and dad, without living off of rice and beans every day and while traveling the world and indulging in the occasional luxury. Yes, I've had many privileges and a fair bit of luck, but I’m no superhuman. If I can do it, you can too. Let’s get started!